It's not often that a band can be around for as long as LACUNA COIL, and still manage to sound fresh and exciting with what's now eight albums and more than twenty years under their hats. Although they started in 1994 as SLEEP OF RIGHT, they teamed with Cristina Scabbia after she helped out with background vocals, becoming ETHEREAL, and then later in 1997 signed with Century Media and became LACUNA COIL. So now in 2016, their eighth album, "Delirium" is out and is honestly a very strong contender for album of the year.

It takes bits of the old and the new, with their much more typical and gothic styled metal from the early albums, and the more accessible hard rock stylings of the latest few albums. It plays out very much like an absolute best of everything that LACUNA COIL have built over the years. The biggest draw for this album is the almost new vocal style of Andrea Ferro, as he's amped it up a lot and growls far more than he ever has done in the past, which it turns out he does very well. Cristina Scabbia gets a lot of the attention when it comes to the band, but Andrea really stands out here every time he features. It's an extremely good effort from him, and could hopefully lead to more of this in the future. As always Cristina Scabbia does sound amazing and she seems to be showing more range here also, however she sticks to her guns as she's always done and this is an extremely good thing. When most of the other band members left, it looked like they would have trouble filling the big parts that the guys left, however Marco Coti-Zelati really steps up here as he continues his fantastic bass work but also picks up guitar, keys, and synth duties. It shows how much talent and skill he has, that he can actually fill all of those parts so well. The new member, Ryan Blake Folden on drums is a welcome addition and certainly helps to fill the place left by former drummer Cristiano Mozzati after the mass departure of the other members in 2014.

"Deirium" starts off with a bang, with "The House of Shame", which straight away shows off this new vocal style of Andrea, as well as bringing back the beautiful melodic style of Cristina. It's an extremely heavy effort which was honestly unexpected after the last few albums which were rather tame in comparison. The next song "Broken Things" is possibly the most like these last few albums, in that it's catchy and accessible for those who aren't big fans of LACUNA COIL. Every song on this album, brings in the best parts of the band and make the entire album absolutely shine as a result. From the dark and heavy "My Demons", to the the exceptionally pretty (but still heavy), "You Love Me 'Cause I Hate You", there is not a dull moment in "Delirium" and its 45 minute run time.

This is an absolutely stunning album from start to finish, and will greatly appeal to old-school fans and recent converts alike. As Ferro said "Delirium is not the beginning of a new chapter in LACUNA COIL's life, it is the beginning of a new book", and honestly this is an extremely exciting thought.

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